


The Ballad of the Flesh-Eating

by axumun



Series: Kingdom Hearts: The Lost Worlds [2]
Category: Invader Zim, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Humor, Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:56:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axumun/pseuds/axumun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Demyx makes a friend, and wins a fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ballad of the Flesh-Eating

Demyx huffed. "C'mon, man, I already did _recon_ there. Is this another heart collection? We all know what happened _last_ time."

Saix and Xigbar were both reminded of the Melodious Nocturne's fateful mission with Roxas, making mental images of Demyx with his face in the dirt, Watchdogs cuffing his legs and nippng at his wrists. They suppressed rare chuckles.

"Based on what information you've gathered from your reconnaissance, we as an Organization have established the best strategy for maximum collection of hearts in this new world. You're well aware that this world has not been introduced to Heartless. You spoke of a girl named...Gaz, correct?"

"Yeah," Demyx answered with a smirk. "She's real cool. She let me see her Haunted Gummy Bear Collection."

Saix was as stoic as ever. "You should know as well as anyone here that it's foolish to interact with a world's inhabitants."  
"I know, but she gave me candy!" Demyx's grin grew wide.

Saix blinked. "I supposed that in this case, mingling was useful. Did you do what I asked of you, Demyx? Did you go to a known world and catch a Shadow?"

*

Gaz opened the front door tentatively, ever wary of her brother's practical jokes and fits of anxiety over the extra-terrestrial.

"Demyx," she greeted. "What're you doing here?"

"Well," he said, turning the corners of his mouth upward, "I would like to take the next step in our...relationship. I think one could call us...friends now, yeah?"

Gaz twitched. "You sound like my neighbor. My green neighbor."

"Oh. Well, what I'm trying to say is that I've brought you a present. A symbol of being.... _frieeennnndsss_." He drew out the word like it was an exaggeratedly long name on a street sign. Then he held out a little jar.

Gaz narrowed her eyes, focusing. Inside the jar was a squirmy little black thing with big, glowing eyes. It was too big to be a bug, too lively and fluid to be a machine. She poked the glass questioningly.

"Your new, um..." Demyx fumbled with his free hand for a note card in his coat pocket. "... _pet!_ That's right. A pet."

"Cute," Gaz breathed. "What is it?"

"Oh! Ummm...It's a....an..." Demyx ruffled his hair. "A newly discovered species! Which means you get to name it!"

"Cool," Gaz said slowly. She stared intently at the creature. She said gravely, "You shall be the Terminator."

Demyx lazily raised an eyebrow.

"I wanna see what it does." Gaz took the jar in her hands and went for the lid. 

"WAIT!" Demyx cried. "Let's go to someplace more...enclosed. This thing's wild. It'll scram."

"You're creepy," Gaz told him. She gazed at the jar. The Heartless within pressed its twitchy fingers to the glass, seeming sentimental. "But you gave me a friend."

*

"My dad's outta town 'cause he has a meeting with the Vice President's secretary's maid's wife's third cousin. And my brother's spying on the neighbors. So no one'll care if this little guy stays in the lab."

Gaz gently set the jar down on a table, after clearing a space previosly occupied by half-empty test tubes (she was a test-tube-half-empty kind of person) and turkey basters.

"Is that all?" Gaz inquired, poking at the jar and drawing the Terminator's attention. She didn't realize that it wasn't wonder in its eyes, but hunger.

"Yeah, I guess," Demyx told her. But he wasn't quite done.

He made a portal leading to the street, just to show off to Gaz and watch her eyes widen in uncharacteristic envy. But as soon as she went back upstairs to her room, Demyx was back in the lab.

He opened the lid of the jar, and the Shadow sprang loose, leaping at him ferally with sharp claws and wiggling antennae. Before it could do Demyx much harm, he created a portal and slipped back to the castle. Mission accomplished. Saix would give him a day off for sure.

*

"Kids! I'm back from the Fictitious Isle of Canadia! Who wants some oven-fresh meatbread??"

Gaz and Dib greeted their father at the front door, helping him carry boxes of the unknown into the kitchen.

"Now kids, Daddy has a very important experiment that the President requires data for at precisely 17:04:59 sharp. I'll be in my lab should you need - "

"Hold on," Gaz murmured, conjuring a little white lie. "I...Left something in your lab yesterday. Can I go get it?"

"You'll require my assistance with the new Super Expert Master Wise Sage Megalock on the door, sweet pea." So Gaz grudgingly followed her father to the location of her new companion.

Except...

"He's...g-gone!" she cried, looking around the room, checking under tables and chairs and maps and beakers. "My Terminator!"

"It's on the bookshelf with the other blockbuster films, darling." But Gaz was already gone, storming upstairs and into her room, ignoring Dib's inquiries of concern.

*

Somehow, Demyx had composed a song that put Heartless to sleep. The other Organization members had argued over what that said about him as a musician before realizing that they didn't really care.

"I still don't really get it," Roxas said to him later that day after the mission was done. "What're you trying to do there?"

"I told Boss Man over there that I didn't find any Heartless there whatsoever, so they wanna do an experiment and...introduce them." Demyx laughed. "It probably won't work. Poor little Shadow'll get lost or lonely and find a way back to the world it came from."

He fiddled with his sitar, playing a few quiet notes in a melody that would've been a musical revelation were he to exploit himself. Xigbar turned away from a conversation he was carrying on with Luxord to scoff at Demyx and his instrument. 

Just to piss him off, Demyx struck the chords with unecessary force, causing a rippling burst of noise that made even Roxas, who liked the sitar, cover his ears.

"Someday," he whispered to Roxas, "this'll come in handy, and they'll never laugh at me again."

*

Dib was watcing the news, scarfing down a breakfast cereal that Gaz likened to cardboard. There was an urgent breaking news story about many recent, sudden disappearances within the city. 

No details were given because none were available; there were no connections between the missing persons, and they were all gone without a trace at around the same time.

"That mumbling pickle-faced skull-eyed scheming scum," Dib muttered. "Dad, can you drive me to school today? I need to talk to the neighbors for a minute."

*

GIR had given up on making waffles, per a demand from Zim, and was experimenting with other Earth foods that are packaged in boxes as powders. He had tried pancakes last week, but they were too bland for Zim's liking. Then he tried instant mashed potatoes, but that proved even more disasterous, because that stuff sticks to the walls.

Today, GIR was preparing a newly released "Lunch In A Box" which promised that all you needed to do was add water to get a well-balanced three-course meal. It was bubbling ominously in a steaming pot on the stove when a furious knock came at the door.

"I got it," Zim told his robot lackey. "Keep stirring."

He already had a hunch that he knew who was on the other side of the door, and like usual, he was right.

Dib was practically clawing his way into Zim's humble abode as soon as Zim had the door cracked. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" he cried, hysterical. Zim would've laughed at the pitiful sight, except he realized that he hadn't done anything dastardly in days. What was this kid's deal?

"Dib, I haven't the time for your conspiracies today, I am preparing Earth food - "

"Shut up! It's _you!_ You did it! You've learned our ways and now you're kidnapping people and herding them onto spaceships like cattle and shuttling them back to your sty of a homeland to be FRIED - "

"Dib, Dib, Dib," Zim hushed. "I assure you, I've not been out of the house in days. It was spring break, after all, and like any good little HUMAN teenager, I enjoyed myself. In fact I enjoyed myself so much that I completely forgot to kidnap anyone and herd them onto - _wait _. That's a terrible idea."__

__"I'm not buying it! I'm not buying it! Where are they!? I'm calling the police!"_ _

__Zim sighed in exasperation. "Y'know, instead of following useless leads based on my past acts - which is very judgmental and frowned upon in our society - I'd suggest following those _creatures_ out there."_ _

__Dib still wasn't buying anything, but his ears perked up in perpetual curiosity. "Creatures?"_ _

__"Suspicious even to me, little human boy. They're black and fierce and eat anything that moves."_ _

__At this, Dib stiffened. His eyes narrowed accusingly. "Where did you get them?"_ _

__"Great galloping gatsbies, human! They are not my doing! Now go. I am famished for this...Earth grub." He shut the door in Dib's face._ _

__*_ _

__"We're aware this might not be the wisest pairing, considering...last time." Saix shared a stoic look with Xigbar that communicated an inside joke. "Demyx. Roxas. Heart collection."_ _

__"You're kidding," Demyx whined. "It's been twenty-six days since my last vacation."_ _

__Roxas cocked his head. "What's a vacation?"_ _

__"Still a bit of a slugbrain," Demyx murmured fondly. "Don't sweat it, I still got your back."_ _

__*_ _

__"Seriously? No Heartless. After all that fuss!" Demyx stamped his foot like a pony. "Think we should forfeit, Rox?"_ _

__"No," Roxas replied. He looked strangely tired. "Let's look some more."_ _

__"I know! I'll go see Gaz. Maybe her Shadow stayed in the lab after all."_ _

__Roxas shrugged, but followed his comrade anyway._ _

__*_ _

__Zim was growing a fondness for cake. He still gagged sometimes as the sugary crumbs slid down his throat, but if he added enough vinegar and jam, the taste was almost bearable._ _

__He was forcing down his second plate when the doorbell rang._ _

__"My turn!" GIR called excitedly. He hopped to the door, peeking through the keyhole._ _

__"A stranger," he murmured. "From the outside."_ _

__GIR swiftly opened the door and cried to the black monster outside, "COME IN AND HAVE SOME CAKE! This one's got turnips and splinters!"_ _

__The creature gave an eerie growl and swept GIR aside, but he landed deftly on his feet. The walls caved in as the creature walked right through them._ _

__It seemed to have its own gravity: floor tiles and sofa cushions were pulled against the monster, some sticking to its skin, some swirling around it in a whirlwind._ _

__Zim, startled by the bang, whipped his head toward the living room. He let out a wheezy scream. "GIR! The creatures! They have come! To my side, GIR! I'll fend it off!"_ _

__He ducked into a cabinet and pulled out a half-full spray bottle of disinfectant (he was a spray-bottle-of-disinfectant-half-full kind of guy), spraying furiously. The monster just stalked closer._ _

__"Fiddlespoons!" Zim cried. "GIR! The plunger! And the rake! Fetch the plunger and the rake!"_ _

__But before GIR could even say, "Yes, my Master!", the monstrosity had bowled them over, stomping holes into the floor, sending them spiralling into the lab far below in a messy heap._ _

__*  
"Her house is right over there," Demyx told Roxas, pointing across the street from behind a bush._ _

__"Shouldn't we be _avoiding_ the townspeople?" Roxas returned, scratching his head._ _

__"How many times do I have to tell people? She gave me candy!" Then Demyx lunged from his bush, making a beeline to Gaz's house, before stopping in his tracks completely._ _

__Roxas caught up to him, breathless. "What's that?"_ _

__"Aw, crap," Demyx sighed. "Her crazy neighbor."_ _

__Roxas watched one of the houses, with a conspicuous hole where its front door should've been, as it fell to the ground piece by tiny piece. His Keyblade appeared in his hands._ _

__"Heartless?" Demyx asked, petrified._ _

__"Yup. The plan worked."_ _

__*_ _

__Zim barely escaped the clutches of the creature, but he managed to crawl back to ground level, running out of his trashed home at full speed. He'd watched all of his carefully crafted machinery come apart by the wires, absorbed by the intruder. Even GIR... _Now_ who would do his bidding??_ _

__He was so panicked that he didn't notice the two black-cloaked blonds outside his door._ _

__"Who's that?" Roxas asked._ _

__"Never seen him before," Demyx insisted._ _

__The green midget halted. "Wait," he breathed. "I am an Invader! I can't sit idly by and let this dark denizen strike fear unto my enemies!" Like flipping a switch, he charged toward the Heartless without a thought put toward his offensive._ _

__"Hey," Roxas called weakly. "Stay back. We'll handle this."_ _

__Zim tripped over air and tumbled beside the Organization-born boys. He studied them thoroughly. "You're not humans."_ _

__They both shrugged._ _

__"Ah! And not of Earth! I am on your side, brethren, but the humans are mine!"_ _

__He looked upward at the tip of the Heartless's head, noticing a familar antennae sticking out of the top. "Oh, yes, GIR. I suppose I should...rescue you." He spat the suggestion as if it were a bite of rotten meat._ _

__Suddenly, the creature twitched, but it wasn't a usual Heartless twitch. Zim recognized it as a glitch, like a spazzing simulation that occured whenever GIR used his disks as frisbies. Then the Heartless seemed to become a hologram itself before splitting in two._ _

__"Whoa!" the Nobodies exclaimed together._ _

__"Impossible," Zim muttered. "It absorbed my cloning machine! I could never get it to work, yet this abomination can use it? Inconceivable!"_ _

__"Cloning...?" Roxas murmured questioningly. Then the creature split again, this time into four. Before long it was muliplying until dozens of giant, identical Heartless confronted them._ _

__"Let's go!" Roxas shouted. "The longer we stand here, the more of it there'll be!"_ _

__Demyx swallowed hard. "How can I take ONE of those things...let alone a hundred?" But he was running after Roxas anyway with a mumbled, "Sent the wrong guy again."_ _

__Roxas was already at work on one creature, but it was easily ten times his height, and it knocked him back easily. Of course, Roxas was used to massive opponents. He tried to shoot a Firaga spell from his Keyblade, but a Heartless behind him batted him aside before the flame could become anything more than a spark._ _

__Demyx was half-heartedly whacking the Heartless's feet as he ran to Roxas's aid, tossing him a potion. He'd told Saix many times that he wasn't a fighter because the thought of his sitar breaking made his stomach twist awkwardly. But Saix never could understand the power of music. None of them could, and as far as Nobodies go, Demyx shouldn't have been able to, either._ _

__"This is useless," Demyx chirped, dodging a clumsy black fist. "They'll stomp us flat before we get a single heart out of 'em."_ _

__Roxas was still trying, though, because unlike Demyx he'd never give up until he was dust. His face was twisted into a grimace, and he was jumping around to throw off the creatures' pursuits, eventually thrusting his Keyblade into one of their heads. It faded into nothingness, and he caught the heart it released as it fluttered upward._ _

__"Yeah, get 'em, Rox!" Demyx shouted, because he made a better cheerleader than an ally. He could see, though, that Roxas was panting, barely through his second round of hearts before falling to one knee and trembling like a leaf._ _

__"If only they'd...stop moving," Roxas murmured. Demyx cured him, but Roxas hadn't been wounded. Magic couldn't help bone-deep fatigue. Only a bed could do that._ _

__When Demyx processed Roxas's wish, a lightbulb flashed over his head. He summoned his sitar and played a few loud, jarring notes to draw attention away from his tired companion. Then, when everything fell silent, he played the song he'd written that everyone at the castle had scoffed at and disbelieved: the song that would put Heartless to sleep._ _

__Of course it worked like a charm, because music is never wrong, always consistent. Demyx never once feared that it wouldn't work this time._ _

__The Heartless's heads fell forward and some of them slumped over completely. A few even snored._ _

__Roxas smiled up at him, some of his strength returning. "Good call, Demyx! I'll put in a good word for you when we get back."_ _

__Demyx beamed, then he started shooting spells, and Roxas hacked away with his big key. They were stealing so many hearts it was like true rock 'n' roll._ _

__When the fighting was over, a few townspeople had gathered round, awed by the spectacle. They hadn't seen the Heartless (somehow) but one gutsy man came forward and murmured reverently, "What was that _gorgeous_ song?"_ _

__"Finally, a world that understands me!" Demyx pumped his fist._ _

__The man wasn't fazed. "I'm in a band, and we don't have a guitarist, y'see..."_ _

__Roxas sighed and grabbed Demyx by the collar, dragging him back to the bushes so they could RTC. "This rockstar's in _our_ band," Roxas said, winking reluctantly._ _

__*_ _

__GIR finally wrestled himself from that big black thing and scurried to base. Except...something about home was wrong. The door was missing._ _

__"GIR! Oh, joy!! I needn't report to the Tallest about losing my robot minion! They would terminate my invasion for certain." Zim popped out from under a heap of debris._ _

__"Hi, Master," GIR greeted. "Where's the door?"_ _

__Zim stared at the ruined base. "Flubbernuts! The lab, my experiments, my test subjects, my stinky Earth food...all gone, all gone." He looked around. People were staring._ _

__"Oh yes. Humans." He cleared his throat. Then, unnecessarily loudly, he said, "What do good, normal HUUUU-mans do when their houses are destroyed by raving lunatics?"_ _

__The same bold man took the bait. "Do you have insurance?"_ _

__"I don't believe in insurance."_ _

__"I see. Well, my brother's a carpenter, here's his card - "_ _

__"OH! Generous, normal, good-natured HUUU-man, I weep at your feet!" Zim was making a grand spectacle now, falling to his knees and everything._ _

__Then that girl next door, the pink-haired one who shared blood with the foolish, conspiracy-loving Earth boy, came outside. Oblivious to the mess, she moaned, "Where's my Terminator?"_ _

__*_ _

__"It's obvious that we can never do heart collection in that world ever again," Saix said gravely._ _

__"Yeah, well," Demyx huffed. "It was awesome! This guy liked my song!"_ _

__"Demyx really helped out today, sir," Roxas pitched in, as promised. "If not for that silly song of his, I would've been toast."_ _

__"Is that so..." Saix feigned deep thought. "Sounds like our Melodious Nocturne has finally become a warrior. You get double heart collection tomorrow."_ _

__Demyx crumbled. "So much for the spirit of rock."_ _


End file.
